How To Look up Facility Inspections & Complaints Reports in Virginia

Virginia Residents:

Find Assisted Living STATEWIDE in Virginia using non-commercial sources

It’s peculiar to me that if you search for any type of senior care – assisted living; nursing homes; residential care – almost never will the non-commercial, but most useful sites come up near the top fo the search. It’s usually pretty questionable sites that often omit important information, keep you in an endless loop of data-sleuthing.

THERE IS A WAY to research assisted living in Virginia safely, and thoroughly, by accessing the Virginia Department of Social Services site, and their Assisted Living Facility Search database.

It’s straightforward, and again, it’s NON-COMMERCIAL so you can trust what information you discover, and you can feel safe while you research.

How To Use The Facility Search Tool

Simply enter the facility name, to find a specific facility and related info, or leave that blank and enter the City location, or Zip Code you are interested in, and then check the Special Services you wish to filter by, and then hit Search.

You will land on an output page with the facilities that match your criteria. From there, you can click on a facility to bring up a plethora of great details and data about the facility.

The results page will look something like this:

Your results will look something like this

Selecting a specific facility will take you to a details page that will provide you with great detail and reports about the facility.

You’ll notice that immediately, you have (probably) enough information at your fingertips to decide whether the facility may be a match, or not.

Information and data included:

Facility Address, and Direct Phone

Facility Type

License Type

Expiration Date

Qualification

Administrator’s name(s)

Business Hours

Capacity

Inspector’s name, and phone number

The last item is something not offered in most other states – the Inspector’s name and phone number. This could potentially be a great source of information and verification for you should you have any specific questions about the facility, and it’s inspections reports or violations.

Inspections Reports and Violations

This is a treasure-trove of information, located just below the main facility data. Immediately, you’ll be greeted to a very easy-to-read list of Inspections Dates; whether the inspection was Complaint Related, and if there were any violations that occurred.

Selecting an Inspection Date will take you to a full report of that inspection.

The inspections reports are comprehensive. This one is several pages long.

The violations section of the report looks like this

Additionally, you’ll be able to view the facility’s capacity, or size. For this facility it is a medium-sized community with a capacity of 55. Size does indeed matter, as different personality types may favor small vs. large facilities. Smaller residential care homes often have a more ‘Bed & Breakfast-ey’ feel. Larger facilities may feel much more corporate and institutional, but may offer more services and social opportunities.

Secondary Assisted Living Facility Search Tool

There is another trustworthy, non-commercial tool you can access to research assisted living, and other types of Senior Living options. This one through the Virginia Assisted Living Association.

VALA Search Tool for Assisted Living & Other Senior Living types.

Again, you’ll be greeted with an extremely simple search tool. This one allows you to search for facilities or homes with Specific Specialties, including:

Your output list won’t include quite as much as on the Department of Social Services site, but it offers some good information, and it a quick & dirty way to get fast results for facilities that may be in your area. The list on the left is scrollable.

[Screenshot]:

Tip: If you live in one of the major cities in Virginia, you can do the “Shortcut” function to go straight to the facilities.

The output for the facility will look like this:

The nice thing about this site/method is that the results include the facility’s direct URL / Website. Additionally, it includes the facility’s specialty services, like Dementia care, as well as Payment Options, such as Private Pay, Medicaid etc.

Assisted Living Regulations in Virginia

The last incredibly important item I’ll leave you with is showing you how to access and view Virginia’s OFFICIAL Assisted Living Rules and Regulations.

Why is this important?

The more you, the resident, or family understands what the standards are for assisted living care, the more likely you’ll be aware if your care is sub-standard.

Knowledge is power, and with this information about Rules and Regulations, coupled with my explanation above on how to learn the Inspector’s phone number for each facility, you can ‘patrol’ your own care effectively and confidently.

To access the Rules and Regulations, simply visit the following URL, which will take you to a lengthy PDF that you can print, or download.

This research guide should empower you to take control of your facility search journey, and should steer you clear of questionable sites that only have a financial incentive, or who only wish to get your personal information.